


All You Got Is Hurt

by Cornerofmadness



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Beginnings of Brightwell, F/M, Malcolm Bright Needs a Hug, Post-Episode: s01e20 Like Father ...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:00:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25062766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cornerofmadness/pseuds/Cornerofmadness
Summary: Dani needs to clear the air between them but pain is the elephant in the room.
Relationships: Malcolm Bright & Dani Powell
Comments: 14
Kudos: 30
Collections: Bite Sized Bits of Fic from 2020





	All You Got Is Hurt

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Brumeier](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/gifts).



> **Disclaimer:** Not mine, Chris Fedak and Sam Sklaver owns it
> 
> **Notes:** Written for vanillafluffy in comment_fic for the prompt, Prodigal Son, Any,  
>  _And I can't keep holding on to what you got, 'cause all you got is hurt - (One, U2, 1992)_

Malcolm didn’t answer the door, not in the mood for visitors. He’d barely been cleared by the team, finding the proof Endicott had set him up for murder. Gil couldn’t stay awake for more than a handful of minutes. Ainsley was confined in an exclusive mental hospital as her lawyers made a case for self-defense coupled with a dissociative fugue, which he’d testify to readily if it came to it. None of those things made him want to talk to anyone.

His buzzer sang again. He stalked to the door to scare them away. “I’m not-”

“Bright, it’s me.”

He buzzed Dani through, unlocked his door, cracking it open for her. Malcolm retreated to the kitchen and poured himself bourbon, Gil’s drink. Would he ever drink this with Gil again? He left a glass empty for Dani. She hovered in the doorway, as if unsure if she should enter.

“We haven’t talked since it all happened.” She stared at the floor.

“What is there to say?” _You should have believed in me? I’m as destructive as Colette told you I am? Now as far as you know everyone in my family has stabbed a person?_

Dani flinched at those words, at his temper. She’d done so before. He was too close to her trauma, whatever it was. He needed to pull back. “I wanted to see…I know you’re not okay, Bright. Can I help?”

“Drink?” He held his up and she shook her head. He crossed the room, sitting on the couch. “You can’t help but I appreciate it. I should be at the hospital right now with Gil but…other cops are there. They look at me and whisper. Not everyone believes I’m innocent. Maybe some were in Endicott’s pocket and fear we haven’t rooted them out yet. I’m unwelcome.”

“You are never unwelcome as far as Gil is concerned. If it helps, JT and I can go with you when we’re free.” Dani sat next to him putting her hand over his. He hadn’t realized his had begun to shake.

“Thank you.” He slid down on the couch. “Why are you really here, Dani?”

“You’re hurting. I had a part in that, and I’m sorry.”

He snorted. “I’m _always_ hurting. I told you, I’m broken beyond repair.”

“And I told you I didn’t believe that.”

He studied her face. “You really don’t. It’s true. Look at my life. The last woman I tried to give my heart to was here because she believed I had the keys to unlocking what happened to her sister. The last relationship before that was with someone who told me she was leaving me because ‘I can't keep holding on to what you got, 'cause all you got is hurt.’ She wasn’t wrong.”

“I know about hurt, Malcolm.”

Malcolm blinked at the use of his name instead of Bright. In her eyes, he saw pain echoing his. He squeezed her hand. “I wish you didn’t but our scars make us who we are. That’s something Jackie used to tell me. I wish she were here. She gave the best hugs.”

“I can’t promise great hugs but you told me you liked talking to me so I thought.” Dani’s smile wavered. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.”

“It’s okay. You had plenty of evidence,” he lied, at least a little. It wasn’t okay but he could forgive it. 

“It’s not okay and I’m sorry and I want to know…can we move on from that?”

He leaned against her shoulder. “We already have. Can you stay longer, talk about fun things?”

“As long as you need.”


End file.
